HumanitiesAstronomyFolktale StudiesMythologyNarrative FolkloreFairy TalesMythic Archetypes
THAT the Maerchen with its witch and sorcerer, its ogre and giant, its dwarf and fairy and its whole repertoire of magical or miraculous characters and episodes has been influenced by the phenomenon of the solar eclipse goes almost without question; we must be careful, however, not to think of this astronomical event as the sole contributor to the otherworldly atmosphere of these entertaining narratives. We are primarily concerned with that category of tales generally abstracted from empirical reality into a realm of self-sufficient fantasy, the events unfolded in a nevernever land devoid of familiar names and geography they have been referred to as 'Chimerate'.' The basis for the miraculous